Faithfully
by KkalHaley
Summary: Nate is a little puzzled. She never used to like short answers. She always wanted to know more. And why didn't she ask how he had been? CxN. Random One-shot. Kind of song-fic.


_Being apart ain't easy on this love affair_

_Two strangers learn to fall in love again…_

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Brunette curls fly everywhere as she trips, spilling her coffee all over herself.

"Oh, I'm so sorry…" she looks up and their eyes lock. "Caitlyn?"

"Nate,"

"Hi, um, let me…" he grabs some napkins from the nearby counter and begins to dab at her shirt before stopping. He looks up at her. "Um, you might wanna…" She smiles before taking the tissues from him and wiping the coffee off of her chest.

"Thanks," she says generously.

"Sorry 'bout that," Nate says. She smiles.

"No big deal."

"So, Caitlyn… wanna sit down?" He gestures over to a table and she hesitates.

"Um, I don't know," She says.

"Please? Just ten minutes? To catch up," He says. "If you're not busy."  
"No, I'm not busy…" she begins. "I guess so." She sits down at the table and sighs. She hasn't seen Nate in years.

_And I get the joy of rediscovering you…_

"So, Nate, I see you've been busy lately," Caitlyn begins. She is a bit stuck for things to say.

"Yeah, the tour lasted a lot longer than we expected," he says, clearly feeling like she is.

"How are Shane and Mitchie? And Jason, of course," she says next, seemingly satisfied with the last answer. Nate is a little puzzled. She never used to like short answers. She always wanted to know more. And why didn't she ask how he had been?

"Shane and Mitchie are one step closer to devouring each other completely," Nate says, with a chuckle. He ignores the previous feelings inside him. "And Jason hasn't changed. Not a bit."  
"Good," Caitlyn says. "You were gone a long time, all of you."

"Yeah, I guess we were." He says. He thinks for a while, repeating what she said over and over. He'd stopped calling her after a year or so. They were caught up in the tour and… Nate realises he had made the worst mistake in his life. Leaving her behind.

"So, Caitlyn," he says. He wants to know more about her, what she'd been up to. "How's your life been?"

"It's been fairly average," she says. "Quite dull and boring. Not like yours."

"Caitlyn, I'm sorry we grew apart," Nate suddenly says. "I realised just then that that was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Really?" she says. She arches an eyebrow.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Nate says, honestly. He knows that he is still in love with Caitlyn. He always was.

"Nate, we grew apart, that's all natural," Caitlyn says, earnestly. She isn't sure what exactly is wrong with her right now, but she feels angry. Angry at Nate for leaving her behind, for… for _forgetting_ about her. But part of her wants to let him back in, to forgive him and move on. Both are too hard. Both could end in heartbreak. She is so confused.

_Oh, girl, you stand by me…_

"Caity, I'm sorry." Nate apologizes again, his voice full of truth and passion, and longing.

"Fine," Caitlyn says. She finally decides she wants to forgive him.

"You are forgiven," she says. "But I'm not going to fully trust you until I know that I can."

"That's fair," Nate says. "Do you want a ride back to your place? You can give me directions and I'll take you there. It was really nice to see you again." She looks outside and it is pouring with rain, just as it was when she arrived.

"Okay," she says. "Thanks."

"No problem." Nate smiles. Caitlyn smiles too.

_I'm forever yours…_

"This one," she says, pointing. "Just here, thank you."

"This is a nice apartment block," Nate says. "Do you live here on your own?"

"Yes, the only person I would want to share with would be Mitchie, but she ran off with you guys," That was meant to be a joke, but Nate senses the hurt in Caitlyn's voice.

"Well anyway," says Caitlyn, taking a deep breath. "Thank you for dropping me off. It was good to see you."

"You too." Nate shifts awkwardly. He looks at Caitlyn, her small frame standing outside the door of the apartment building with her hands in her pockets, the rain falling down and soaking her long curly hair, turning it darker. Her big, brown eyes hadn't changed, he notices. They still make him melt. He is falling for her all over again.

But this time he wasn't going to let her slip away.

"Caitlyn," Nate says.

"Yeah?"

"I still love you," he says. He looks at his feet, then composes himself slightly and moves closer to Caitlyn, looking into her eyes.

"What?" she asks, wondering if she misheard what he said.

"Caitlyn, I love you," Nate says. "I always have and I always will. I think back now and realize what an idiot I am, to leave you behind like that. I haven't had many experiences in romance, and they never last. Its one thing I absolutely suck at. You know that better than anyone."

Caitlyn is overwhelmed.  
"You know, it was hard seeing you again," she says, her eyes filling with tears, threatening to fall. "It brought back a lot of memories, and emotions. Stuff I haven't felt in a long time. You know, leaving me behind and then reappearing almost two years later takes some getting used to. I don't advise you do that again."

"I'm sorry Caitlyn. I am a jerk, and an idiot and everything bad. I let the girl I love- have always loved; slip away because I was so careless. I am selfish, and stupid, and…" Nate doesn't finish his sentence. He is silenced by Caitlyn crushing her lips to his. He kisses back forcefully and passionately, everything forgotten as they stand there kissing in the rain.

Caitlyn feels like she never wants to stop, everything falling into place with just one kiss. She finds it hard to believe that this is her first kiss. They break away, feeling (and hating) the need to breathe. They realize that they're soaked through to the skin, from head to toe. Funny, they didn't seem to notice the rain.

_Faithfully…_

**^ Just something I've had on my mind for a while! Hope you enjoyed it! ^~^**


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